


To The Ends

by Tandirra



Series: Old Series Redux [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Friendships, Enemies to Friends, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 06:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10848522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tandirra/pseuds/Tandirra
Summary: After Loki suddenly appears to help the Avengers fight and something goes wrong the entire team must try and save Tony and Loki from trouble while they try and save themselves.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I definitely posted this on fanfic.net years ago but I reworked it and will probably be reworking the rest of the series onto here as well. Mostly so I can salvage and fix things that have been bugging me for years.

The Avengers were used to fights by now, of course (Tony could almost call them a functioning team), but this one was different. The aliens had come out of nowhere, they seemed to have no real leader or desire, and there were thousands of them. Over the course of the fight the team had been split up; Tony had flown off, only now admitting to himself that was a bad idea, and was currently fighting on his own, Thor and the Hulk were in the same general area by the sounds of the lighting and roars, and Steve, Clint, and Natasha had taken a defensive position to avoid being overwhelmed.

Though it looked like he might be the one overwhelmed. Already the little bastards had managed to break his communication systems and dent his chest-piece.

"The hell," Tony yelped, as he felt something metal strike his armor. The alien that had tackled him froze and as Tony pulled away he saw a small blade sticking out of its stomach. The blade disappeared and the alien disintegrated. The now hollow armor clattered to the pavement and revealed, standing only a few feet away, the Trickster God. " _You!"_ Tony stared at the leather-clad loony toon, throwing up a repulsor he knew probably wouldn't hurt the god. "We've got enough to deal with at the moment without you!"

"Really, Stark, I just killed this thing for you, do I look to be trying to kill you today," Loki shouted, clearly sarcastic, over the resounding explosions from another area of the city. Over the last year, ever since he'd escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, Thor's homicidal younger brother had been a persistent thorn in their side. He'd never tried anything so big as 'taking over the world' again but Tony still had bruises on his stomach from the giant octopus Loki had released on Staten Island.

"Sure, I'll believe that, thanks. But why the hell are you here?" Tony whipped away from the Trickster, blasting apart another alien with a repulsor blast but careful to not take his eyes off Loki. He wished the Hulk was here, the big man always sent the prickly god running. But there was no chance at that.

"I can't have you killed while fighting a bunch of nobodies;" Loki scoffed, almost too casually. "That would make me look bad. Besides what would I do without you? Life would be so dull." The god's voice dripped with sarcasm as he whirled around and continued to blast aliens apart with bursts of magic. It wasn't a hard truth to imagine, Tony couldn't, for the life of him, think of what the Trickster would do instead of annoying and menacing them. It wasn't like he could open a coffee shop in Brooklyn. 

Tony gaped at him for a moment longer, before being attacked by another group of aliens and being forced to turn his attention away. He glanced back at the Trickster suspiciously. "Jarvis keep track of Antlers. I don't want him to stab me in the back so if he gets too close give him a face full of missiles." Loki might need them but he sure as hell wouldn't admit it and Tony wasn't sure his weird obsession would keep him from attacking Tony the moment his guard dropped.

"Of course sir, I will set up defense measures immediately."

With every alien killed, another four seemed to take its place. It had been more than a while since Tony and heard anything from the other Avengers, though the occasional flashes of lightning and angry roars told him that at least Thor and Bruce were still fighting. He could only hope that Cap, Clint, and Natasha were alright, they were the most "squishy" of the team, though Steve hated when Tony called them that and he'd never say it to Natasha's face. He valued his hands too much.

But he had his own problems to deal with at the moment. Every so often, through the endless waves of aliens, he would glimpse Loki, blasting one of them or knifing any that got within his range, all with a look of deadly spite on his face. Last time Tony'd seen that look, he was getting thrown through a window. It made an already tense situation cripplingly uneasy.

Suddenly a great explosion rocked the ground followed by the sound of screeching metal, disrupting Tony's focus. Looking up he found the cause of the noise immediately. Two of the buildings closest to him had been struck by something and were crumbling quickly towards him.

"Shit, shit, _shit_!" Tony's heart jumped in his chest and he tried to blast out of the way but the aliens, taking advantage of his distraction, had latched onto him and held him down. "Too many, too many, _goddammit_!" He wasn't about to die. He couldn't die. Pepper--

Then something much heavier than the aliens hit Tony from behind. He felt his shoulder missiles deploy as more concrete and metal crashed down around him. They exploded directly behind him and he felt his suit tearing apart and crumpling against the multiple blasts. His back screamed a protest as sharp metal dug into him. Just before he blacked out he heard Loki shriek. "You idiot!"

 

Groaning Tony blinked blearily. His head throbbed like the worst hangover of his life. Squinting between his eye slits at the faint light, Tony realized he was still in his suit. "Jarvis?" His head ached like the one and only time he'd sparred against Natasha; concussion, probably, his back protested immediately, before he even tried to move."Jarv, you there?"

Nothing. The system was down. He was alone.

"Great, just _great_." Tony grumbled and flipped his helmet up and took in his surroundings. Trying his best to ignore his pounded body, he squinted through the dark. He saw that the light came from a faint shimmer that seemed to be holding up thousands of pounds of concrete and metal from crushing him. Intricate patterns danced across the light, Tony reached out to touch it absently. It felt like glass warmed by the sun on a hot day and definitely didn't look natural, or human. "Wait… what?" There was something missing, something that his brain couldn't connect with. _How was he alive?_

"Finally awake… are we… Stark?" The words made Tony's pulse quicken and his mouth dry, that voice meant only bad things.

"Loki?" 

"Who else?" Loki sounded strained and tense, the usual malice in his tone hardly present. Pushing himself up, Tony looked around the small space. Loki was crouched in a very uncomfortable looking position, one knee splayed at an awkward angle, with one hand spread flat against the top of the shimmering bubble and the other cradling his face. From between his fingers, Loki glared venomously at Tony. 

"Umm, where are we exactly?" Great. Just what he wanted; some nice alone time with an alien maniac. This day was turning out to be fantastic. Not even sarcasm could save him from the pit of fear that settled in his gut at the realization he might be stuck here, alone, with the green wacko.

"Well, Stark, if you would _think_ then it should be obvious, we are under quite a lot of rubble from the buildings that the beasts sabotaged."

"You saved me?" Shocked, Tony couldn’t even manage to be insulted by Loki’s patronizing tone. 

Loki's stare was unimpressed. "How hard did you smack that dense head of yours? Do we look dead?"

Tony processed what the god said, reeling.  _Loki_ saved him, the same Loki that had tried like, three weeks ago, to turn Central Park into a crater and promised to do it again. Deciding to look anywhere but the angry god, Tony surveyed the bubble again. It was mostly transparent, with only a slight shimmer that gave off some golden light, nothing more than he had already perceived caught his eye. Though, not for the first time, he wondered how Loki's magic worked. Thor was remarkably unhelpful on the topic, no matter how annoyingly Tony asked. Without Jarvis he had no idea how the other Avengers were doing and had no way of contacting them. He had to believe they were okay.

The silence was stifling. Turning back to Loki he decided talking was the best way to relieve tension. "So, what happened to your face?" He immediately winced, the playboy charm was really coming through today.

"Your missiles, idiot." If Loki noticed his wince, he didn't comment.

"Oh yeah…. Sorry about that, I guess." He wasn't really. The god had done way worse. Though if Loki had been trying to save him... Tony shook off the thought. Loki was the bad guy, that was a certainty. That was something to cling to.

Silence enveloped them once more, this time broken by faint sounds of far off explosions. Again, Tony found himself hoping his teammates were winning this. He didn't rebuild Stark tower into what it was only to lose it a year later to some dumb alien grunts. "Why _did_ you save me by the way, a little out of character for you, isn't it?" The words slipped out as Tony glanced back at Loki.

"Old habits and reflexes die hard, Stark."

"What?" Tony frowned at him. 

"Well I did grow up on Asgard, and had to constantly save my brother," Loki practically spat the word and Tony had to resist an eye-roll, he didn't have the patience for this old rant right now. Luckily, it didn't come. "When he got us into any number of… _unfortunate situations_ with his recklessness."

"Just his?" Tony raised a speculative eyebrow. If there was one thing he knew about Loki it was that he seemed to possess a remarkable ability to cause trouble.

All Loki did was glare back at him and Tony knew he'd called the god's bluff.

"So bad boy, evil god, super villain went all hero for me. I'm touched.” Tony kept his tone sarcastic. Didn't want Loki thinking he was letting any tricky business slip. “How the hell did you survive being blasted point blank in the face with, like, twenty missiles by the way?" It was a genuine question. He knew the brothers were tough, but the limits of their strength remained a mystery until Thor agreed to Tony's testing. Which wasn't going to happen and Tony knew it.

"Mmm…" Loki hummed low. "I am a _god_. We tend to survive that kind of thing, I'm just a bit….. roughed up." There was some hesitation in Loki's voice. Tony wasn't entirely sure what it meant but he didn't like it. He didn't like anything about the God of Lies, or Evil, whatever he was calling himself nowadays.

"And you still managed to stop us from being killed." Tony couldn't help but be a little impressed.

"You sound touched, that is sweet, Stark, but please, don't cry." The sarcasm was obvious and lightened the mood a bit. Well, as much as possible given the situation. The sound of rumbling echoed all around them as a piece of rubble fell and landed directly onto the shield where it sparked off. "Aaa- _aaugh_ , no…." Loki moaned through gritted teeth, pain crossing what Tony could see of his face as his eyes briefly glossed over. The shield flickered but held as Loki's breathing became ragged and uneven. Putting his head down, he lifted his other hand from his face to seemingly help hold up the shield.

Tony recoiled slightly at the state of Loki’s face. What was usually an admittedly fairly attractive face, when not twisted in anger or similar emotions and trying to kill them, was a bloody mess. Tony's stomach lurched and he immediately looked down to the ground.  "Uh, you alright? How strong is that thing?" Obviously, Loki was not _alright_ , but what else could he say? 

" _What_ do you think Stark? I'm _obviously_ fine, I mean this shield is constantly draining my energy, my face was recently _blown up_ by your damned artillery, and it feels like I'm holding up this rubble all by myself but, no, I'm just _fine_. And it  _shall_ hold." Loki's reply was snappy. Not that Tony could blame him for being peeved. Tony had nearly shot his face off. That would make anybody cranky.

Tony noticed the small blood puddle forming underneath Loki and watched as droplets splattered the pavement. Guilt wormed into him, not something he'd ever felt towards Loki before. It was a weird emotion towards the god, to say the least. And not one he ever thought he'd have for the number one most wanted criminal on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar and his least favorite Odinson. Silence, broken by nothing but Loki's strained breathing, enveloped them. What seemed like hours passed, then a faint scrabbling noise sounded close to them. Tony gasped and looked around. Hope fluttered in his chest. "Do you hear that? That could be what we've been waiting for!" 

"Yes….perhaps…that would be… wonderful."

"Hey, hey can you hear me? This way!" The scrabbling sound stopped for a few moments, then resumed with increased vigor. Tony grinned, pleased with his success. As soon as he saw Steve he'd smack him for letting him run off. Some leader. But Tony glanced back at Loki, who sounded less than thrilled. "So, Antlers, what are you going to do when we get out of here? Scurry off or let yourself get caught and heal up before you escape?"

"You seem to think that either way I escape… Is that possibly self-reflection I hear? Realization of your own incompetence?" Loki hinged as close to smug delight as Tony had ever heard. "I assume I'll co- _gah_!" The building shifted greatly as the scrabbling sound got louder and closer. Loki tensed and began cursing under his breath in a tongue Tony couldn't recognize. This drove them into silence once more as the sounds of life got closer. All Tony could do was hope that Loki wasn't lying about his barrier holding. Not a fun place to be, seeing as they were words from the world's spikiest liar.

The concrete shifted and Tony crawled over to where the opening was made. "Hey, thanks! You have no idea--"

An alien’s face appeared through the hole, followed quickly by a sharp blow to Tony's nose. And the world went black.

 

The Avenger crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Blood poured from his nose, no doubt broken. Loki watched all of this warily, cursing his vulnerability and the himself for getting him here to begin with. He should never have helped the idiotic red and gold Avenger. He should have just stayed back in his apartment and watched and laughed. Whatever had possessed him in the moment, he couldn't say.

An alien, an ugly species he'd never seen, eyed him with black bug-like pupils "Stay back, I have no fear of you, foul thing. I am a god and you shall submit to me or die, painfully." Slipping into a hiss, Loki drew on his agony for anger and found it easy. The alien stared at him then turned around, dragging Tony with it. Loki stared at the hole in the rubble for a few moments while he processed. Then panic jolted in his stomach and kickstarted his mind. "Ah-wait! I command you, come back and remove this rubble!" _This was why he planned,_ Loki condemned himself. Historically, his spur of the moment ideas were rubbish. Though they'd never left him crushed beneath tons of rubble before. There was, it seemed, a first for everything.

There was nothing but the weight of the rubble.

Then, before he could so much as blink, the aliens were everywhere. Loki tried to move away but the strain of holding up the building was too great. He had lost too much blood, used too much energy, all he could do was kneel there and watch as the aliens swarmed around him. One knocked him to the ground, he gasped bracing for death, not for the first time, as the building creaked and shuddered. But it didn't come, he felt himself being dragged away by his legs. Opening his eyes, he saw hundreds of aliens supporting the weight of the building; as it passed they let go allowing it to crush them.

"Mindless drones, how pathetic" He mumbled under his breath. But then realized something with a start. "I am important enough to sacrifice part of an army for," he sighed. That meant he was bait. This was all too familiar. Though he was sure these creatures were not minions of the Titan. He would have known that much. _He would have felt-- surely, surely._ His stomach clenched in sudden fear.

Loki began to struggle as much as he could given his greatly weakened state. He writhed, attempting to kick the alien holding him, only managing to dislodge its headpiece. It glanced at him for a moment, then swiftly twisted his foot. Pain shot up his leg, as his ankle no doubt snapped, he grunted but continued resisting. The alien growled something unintelligible and he felt a sharp pain near the base of his head; the world went dark in an instant.


	2. 2

"They're pulling back!" Steve shouted over his shoulder to Natasha. The two of them had sectioned off a portion of a street, making it easier to defend themselves against the waves of aliens; Clint had been picking the creatures off from above. But now the aliens had just stopped coming, clearing out as suddenly as they had appeared. Steve knew better than to think this was a good thing. 

"What's this about, Cap?" Clint radioed in from his perch on a surrounding building.

"I'm not sure, they just stopped. Do you see any of the team from up there?" Scenarios ran through his head. He wished they'd showed some kind of goal. At the least, that could help him narrow down their desires.

"It's a bit hard to miss a giant green guy and a god. Yeah I see 'em, want me to get their attention?"

"Yes, how?"

Without answering Clint fired an arrow up, exploding it when it got high enough. The sound echoed around the city. "I'll be down in a bit."

A few minutes later and nearly the whole team had regrouped, only Stark was missing. Thor had flown in looking agitated and a bit roughed up, sporting a cut on his lower lip and one under his right eye. The Hulk looked like, well, the Hulk. The five of them stood facing each other, all too aware of the gap in their number. Doubt crept at the edges of Steve's mind. He didn't lose teammates, not after- Stark had to be out there.

"Did _anyone_ see Stark after he flew off?" Steve looked around the group, he had no clue what had happened to his friend during the battle. He'd tried to tell Stark to stop but, as far as he could tell, Stark had turned off communication with his suit. He was nothing if not frustrating.

"No, I did not see the Man of Iron throughout the fight. Although there did seem to be a skirmish a few streets away. Two large building were down, perhaps he was to blame." Thor spoke up, his eyes grim. He pointed toward the general direction of the destruction that Steve had heard earlier. Silence enveloped the group as the thought of the implications of Thor's words.

No, he had to be alive. Steve knew it. "Alright, well, we need to get over there then. Thor, Hulk, can you two go ahead and see if you can find any signs of Stark? Thor, check for injured civilians too." They had to have priorities, as much as Steve wanted to assure his team was still whole the people came first.

By the time Steve and the two agents arrived at the street Thor and the Hulk had already scoured the scene. By the ruined crane that loomed over the scene it looked like the buildings had been under construction and hopefully unoccupied. Thor was currently crouched on the ground, seemingly inspecting something. As Steve got closer, Thor stood up, turning to him with a heavy frown furrowing his face. It was not a reassuring sight.

"What is it, what'd you find?" Concern was not something the god usually showed. Even during fights Thor smiled, except when his dark haired brother was involved. _But surely not-_

"Tis strange, many of these piles of armor do not have bodies inside." Thor picked up a piece of strange dark armor and held it up for Steve to see as dust spilled out. He spoke the truth. "This does not seem like something Stark could do…"

"Yeah… we'll have to ask him when we find him." As Steve talked he noticed Thor's eyes travel to something behind him and watched as an alarmed expression appeared on the god’s face. An even less common expression. Reserved only for when Steve beat him in Monopoly and- The alien armor clattered to the pavement. Thor blinked rapidly and swept past Steve without a word, his cape fluttering behind him, startlingly crimson against the grey. "Thor what--" 

The god crouched down, picking something up only a few feet away from the rubble of the buildings. He turned, displaying the item in his hands to Steve. It was a small silver dagger. "I know this weapon. This does not bode well." Thor mumbled as he carefully turned the blade over in his hands; its handle was intricately carved with a looping snake-like pattern set in green stone, its silver blade glinted wickedly in the light. Steve looked from it to Thor, who continued to gaze at it, eyes glazed over.

"Thor?" Putting a hand on Thor’s shoulder, Steve frowned. He knew only one person who used daggers like this and the implications of it sent shivers down his spine.

"This blade… this blade belongs to my brother."

 

The five Avengers sat on the sofa at Stark Tower, a tense atmosphere stifling the room. Without its creator the tower seemed almost hostile; for better or worse Steve had grown accustomed to Stark's banter. All eyes rested on the silver dagger, all minds going through the possibilities of what had occurred. Steve had run through a hundred scenarios and found none of them to his liking. Not much about Loki was usually to his liking, though.

" _Er_ … are you sure this is Loki's, I mean…" Clint wondered aloud, looking hopefully up at Thor.

The god met his gaze with a grim expression. "I have seen this dagger in my brother's hands for hundreds of years; I am certain." Of course he was. Because, of course Loki got involved. He always chose the worst moments to ruin their day but this was a new low.

Clint sighed, a heavy, dark sound, and the group fell into silence once more. After a few minutes Natasha stood up, running a hand through her hair. "I'm going to report to Fury, we need to get on top of this. If something happened to Stark and Loki is involved…" She trailed off into silence and Steve nodded in confirmation. "Coming, Clint?" She tilted her head toward the other agent.

Clint jumped with a start. Then got up, grabbed his bow and turned to face Natasha. "Right, yeah sorry, I'm coming. See you all later, then." Their exit was hurried. Steve had yet to get used to the split nature of their little team. Yes, Clint and Natasha worked with them, but they worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. first. And Steve wasn't exactly sure how he felt about the organization despite his respect for its founders. Duty was duty but it only went so far.

The three remaining men watched the two agents leave and fell back into an uneasy silence once they boarded the elevator. Then Steve sighed, looking to Thor. “What could Loki _do_ to Stark, Thor? We all know the basics but… you’re the expert here.” 

Thor looked sadly down at the dagger. “I do not doubt my brother could do a great deal of nasty things, should he desire that. But I hope, as I must, that he may have a change of heart.” His voice carried a sorrow Steve could hardly fathom.

“What’s really the chance of that, though?” Bruce spoke up, he looked frazzled. It wasn't really a delicate rebuttal. But he was usually a bit more blunt after Hulk transformations, so Steve gave him a pass with only a chastising look. “Every time we’ve encountered him up to this point, he’s been nothing but hostile.”

Steve looked from Bruce to Thor. “I hate to admit it, but he has a point.” He knew how Thor felt about Loki. But he shared none of Thor's hopes. Loki had never showed any remorse for the countless times he'd tried to get them killed.

Frowning, Thor flipped the dagger in his hands. “No matter his anger or his actions, he is my brother; I must keep hope alive that he can be made to see sense, somehow. And that he hasn't done such a thing as hurt Stark to spite us."


	3. 3

Tony's head throbbed and his back ached. With a groan, he brought his hand to his face. " _Ugh_ , what the hell- what happened?" Not wanting to move he rubbed his hand over his eyes. Then something clicked. He didn't have his suit on, he was lying on cold ground, his nose throbbed and blood caked his lip, and he could hear strained breathing from somewhere to his left. Opening his eyes he sat up, groaning as he did. He was in a dark room made of some kind of stone, the air was cold and felt strange. For a moment he was back in Afghanistan, his breath hitched in his throat, but the moment passed and he shook the memory off. There were no missiles, the walls were far too smooth and far too dark, this was no cave he had ever seen.

Turning to his left, he winced as fear shot through him, propelled by his still pounding heart. A figure sat, leaned against the opposite wall, dried blood coated its clothes. Tangled black hair covered its face. Tony stared, trying to gather his thoughts. "Dammit, think Tony, think!" He growled, growing frustrated. His outburst caused the man, he thought, to shift and let out a small gasp of pain. Then Tony remembered, the man was Loki, who had saved his life; then, most likely, he was being held by the aliens. The aliens! He vaguely remembered being punched in the face by one of them; it must have knocked him out and left his nose in its throbbing state. "Shit, shit, Loki wake up, this is bad!"

He crawled over to the unconscious god. As he got closer he saw how beaten Loki looked. One of his feet was twisted at an odd angle and his black hair was matted with blood from a blow to the back of the head, each breath seemed short and pained. His face, though, was markedly less "blown up" looking. A feat of healing Tony wasn't sure how Loki had managed. Tony original plan included trying to shake Loki awake but that seemed like a bad idea upon reflection. Not sure what to do, he hesitantly touched Loki's face trying to wake the god up; when he did Loki jerked back and fell on his side with a solid _'thump.'_ Loki shrieked and his eyes flew open, wild with pain and confusion.

"Whoa, whoa, sorry, my bad!" Tony said quickly, raising his hands in a gesture of apology. The last thing he needed was to make the god mad. Though he guessed he'd already failed there.

Loki's dull eyes wandered for a few moments then settled on Tony. He stared blankly at Tony, confusion all encompassing and entirely unmasked under his usual nasty sneer. It took a few moments for recognition to spark, but the sneer didn't come. He let out a pained sigh. "Stark… ugh… how long- aaah- have… you been awake?" His words came out halting, as if each one hurt.

"Not too long and I only just figured out what was going on a minute ago. Did _that_ -” He nodded towards the worst of Loki’s wounds, though tried not to look directly at them. “-happen while those bastards were getting you out?" 

Loki nodded slightly, then grimaced. "Some of it, they sprained…or broke my ankle then. But no, some…mmm…unfortunately more…recently. They… _interrogated_ …me, which is how I got the… fractured ribs."

"They tortured you.” Tony let the statement sit, again his mind went to Afghanistan. Sympathy resounded through him before he could stop it. He shouldn't feel bad for the god, he told himself. But... “What did they want? Who are they? Where are we?" Questioning Loki was far easier than feeling sorry for him. And more productive.

Loki attempted to sit up but pain crossed his face and he continued to lie on the ground with a grunt of frustration. Obviously, he hated seeming weak. Tony got it, he was still the enemy, after all. "I do not know where we are. I awoke in another room… similar to this one and I passed out before I could see outside. From what I gathered from their…interrogation… they want to know who you all are, well the leader said _"your team"_ but I'm not part of your little group, of course." The edges of Loki's mouth twitched up with dry humor.

"You can understand them?"

"It seems their leader speaks many languages, this one included."

"What did you tell them?"

"Lies and, or, nothing. My specialty” The Trickster smiled like a wolf, all teeth and menace that made Tony shiver. It was impossible to ignore the blood that smeared his lips. “It was quite amusing watching them grow frustrated… at first. Later on, not so much."

"Oh, well that's-"

A shuffling sound drew their attention to the other side of the room. A door that Tony swore wasn't there before opened and three large aliens entered. They shuffled over, one grabbed Tony, roughly bringing him to his feet, and the other two grabbed Loki, hauling him up. Tony watched as Loki winced and swayed as he nearly buckled under his own weight. Something twinged in his chest. Something he _definitely_ hadn't ever felt for Loki before and he started arguing without thinking "Hey, if you knew what was good for you you'd show more respect, you're manhandling the G-" 

"Shut up _Stark_ , I am fine." Loki shot him a venomous glare, silencing him. The aliens forced them forward. "I have not told them who I am. Do not do so and ruin this." Loki muttered under his breath as they were shoved towards the door. His traditional venom seemed forced though no less convincing.

Whispering, Tony looked at the unsteady god with doubt. "Roger. Are you sure you can walk?" _Concern? Was that what he felt?_ Tony couldn't be sure. Concern for Loki. The idea was almost laughable.

"I have dealt with worse in the past." But there was something hollow in Loki's voice that confirmed Tony's feeling.

With every step Tony saw Loki wince and his breathing grow more ragged. By the time they reached the door he was considerably paler than normal and he swayed slightly when the aliens reopened the door. As they moved outside, a strange sight met Tony's eyes. It was a place that seemed suspended in darkness, the floating rocks lit with a harsh blue light. "Whoa…" His mind immediately raced, how, where, what physics defying bullshit let this place _be_?

Tony looked around in awe. He had a few moments to wonder about the logistics of how he was breathing, then a noise behind him caught his attention. The alien holding him turned around, letting him see what had happened. Loki had dug his heels down and stopped in his tracks, apparently his guards had not expected that and had gotten jerked back. Tony could see something was wrong. Loki had lost any remaining color in his face, his eyes were wide, darting around in obvious panic, and his chest hitched visibly. Tony recognized it and more sympathy shot through him, fighting back the nasty feeling he usually got when he looked at the god. The aliens guiding Loki grew impatient and pulled him forward, he stumbled but caught himself, head down. As the aliens pulled Loki forward to join Tony and his guard, Tony gave Loki a concerned look. "What's wrong?"

Loki, face covered by his matted hair, was clearly trying to regain his calm and eventually he was able to breathe properly again. "I- this place…I know this…this place. Or, at least where this place…resides…"

Tony was about to reply but the alien growled and pulled him farther away from Loki. They spent the rest of the trip in silence. Though Tony kept one eye on Loki, watching as the god lifted his head occasionally, his quick eyes surveyed every inch of their surroundings. For once, Tony was thankful for Loki's evident need to over-analyze. Eventually they reached another room identical to the one they had been in before, which the aliens pushed them into then closed the door. Tony turned to look at Loki, who had slumped against the wall. "Did I just witness a god having a panic attack back there?" He tried to make it sound like a joke, failing miserably.

Loki was still unusually pale, he started to reply but stopped for a moment when he must have realized his voice was shaking. "I have a-… I have an idea where we are now, but how to escape… I don't know…" Loki sounded a little too despondent for Tony’s liking.

"Okay ignore my question then, fine. So where are we?"

Loki looked him straight in the eyes, something Tony had never experienced before when he wasn’t about to be thrown through a window. The Trickster's blue-green eyes reflected confusion and more than a hint of panic and fear. It was an intimacy Tony's wasn't comfortable with. Let alone with someone who tried to murder him bi-weekly. "We are in the place between realms, where all manner of lost, dangerous, creatures reside."

"Well it's obvious you've been here before, which means that you've gotten out.” Tony offered. “So we can do that again. How did you do it last time?" He hoped against hope that Loki's sullen silence was just a pout.

Loki sighed, a resigned look on his face. "I used the Tesseract"

"Oh… _damn_." Tony's heart sunk. There went his hopes.

"Indeed, the place between realms is where I spent a year before entering your world, using the Tesseract." By this time Loki had slide down the wall onto the ground, he had leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The way he spoke sounded almost mechanical, as if he were reciting a shopping list. Tony stared down at the god, this was easily the most vulnerable he had ever seen Loki. 

"So you can't just magic us out of here then…" Usually it would feel great to have the upper hand on Loki but Tony couldn’t even bring himself to make a joke about it. There was a sick feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. He thought of Earth, wondered how far they were from it. Far from his team, from Jarvis, from Pepper and Happy and Rhodey. 

"I doubt it, and even if I could, I do not posses the energy to even reach my... seidr." Loki hesitated on the word, as if he expected Tony to protest. "At the moment. Holding up the rubble used more energy than I had anticipated and my body is still healing my injuries, which uses up _more_ of my energy. I am essentially useless. At least, for now."

"Damn, no quick way out. But really I'm more useless than you right now, those bastards took my suit… If they destroyed it, I'll kill them." Tony muttered darkly. They were going to get out, he was a genius and Loki... Loki might be crazy but he wasn't that far gone yet. At least, Tony hoped.

"Mmmm…" Loki watched him with one half lidded eye. "How long must we wait until their leader comes to interrogate us…"

"That's why they brought us here?" It wasn’t an appealing prospect, Tony shifted uncomfortably. His throat was dry and he wasn't sure if it was from dehydration or something else. Fear.

"This looks to be the room I first awoke in, so yes, most likely." Loki glanced around the cell with dull eyes. He noticed a patch of mostly dried blood, stretching to reach it, he dabbled one of his fingers in the wet splotch and tasted it with his tongue. "Yes, this is the same cell, interesting."

"Did you just stick your finger in a random liquid to see if that was your blood?"

"Well yes, what did it look like?" The annoyed bafflement on his face was almost funny. "Why do you have that look on your face, Stark?"

"Nothing, just remembering that I'm stuck with a slightly crazy, thousand year old, god." Tony laughed weakly. Shit, he was going to die here. And only Loki would know. _Loki_ , of all people.

Loki gave him a crooked grin. "Only slightly? I thought I had least qualified as insane and power hungry. I have a reputation to keep up, after all."

" _Hardy-har_ , jackass." Well, maybe Loki wasn't the worst company. At least he had a sense of humor.

"Did you just compare me to a mule?!"

"What? No I-"

The door opened, interrupting him. They both turned their heads to watch as a large alien, flanked by four others, entered the cell. He heard Loki hiss beside him and his stomach clenched. The four other aliens spread out like body guards around the cell. The larger alien turned to face them. It’s face was a grotesque vision, with a pincer like mouth and mottled grey skin.

The creature stared at them for a few long moment, tilting its head as it did so, then it spoke. "The other hass awoken, it sshall be more cooperative, yess?" The alien had a strange accent, speaking in rasping tones and hissing with every _s_. Its words were slow and hesitant, as it seemed to search for how to speak its intentions in English. Tony realized, after a few seconds, that the alien had been talking about him. He opened his mouth to reply when the alien spoke again. "The firsst wass not very helpful, it wass purpossefully obsstructing our dessiress; ssurely the other ssaw what happenss when not helpful, no?"

"Yeah I saw, and I can take a few cuts and broken bones just as well as he can, you're not getting anything, _pal_." Tony growled right back at the thing, determined to not show how disgusted he was by it. He'd dealt with interrogation before, he could handle this. That's what he told himself, at least.

The alien regarded him for a few seconds, then glanced at Loki with what looked like a wicked expression on its twisted face. "A few cutss and broken boness only…the firsst hass not sshown the other the resst then…" The lead alien quickly turned to one of the others and spoke in a clicking language Tony couldn't understand.

Beside him, Loki attempted to get up, a quiet moan escaped his lips, but failed and fell back to his knees again as two of the aliens grabbed him roughly. They pulled off Loki's cloth undershirt, which produced a cry of protest from Loki and a soft _"oh"_ from Tony when he saw what was underneath.

Loki's entire torso was covered with black and blue bruises, black scorch marks also joined the patchwork on his skin. Many strange symbols had been carved into his flesh, some of which were freshly oozing blood, seemingly opened up due to the movement. With every breath the god took, his chest strained and shook. The head alien strode over to Loki who looked up at it with a murderous gaze and an expression of undiluted hatred that chilled Tony to the bone.

The force of his gaze would have easily caused Tony to run the other way as fast as possible, yet the alien simply stared down at Loki, seemingly unfazed. "The firsst is a fasst healer…" _Fast healer? What worse could there have been? How had Tony not noticed?_ Then it turned to Tony. "The firsst wass bad, ssurely the other will not be bad. The other sshall be given time to think on the offer. I sshall return for the other'ss ansswer." The alien then motioned to the other four and left the cell, leaving Tony and Loki alone.

Tony turned to see Loki attempting to slip his undershirt on without scraping his beaten body. Reservations abandoned, Tony's mind jumped to Yinsen, dying in a shitty, dirty, cave, blood leaking from his mouth. He couldn't let someone else die on his watch. Even someone like Loki. "Do you want any-" 

Loki shot him a venomous glare. "No, Stark, I do not." There was a definite note of shame in his voice as he struggled.

 _I want to help,_ Tony longed to say. But that obviously wasn't what Loki wanted to hear. Tony waited for him to put his shirt back on before speaking again.  "So…I guess you weren't going to tell me about this."

"I saw no reason to concern you further, Stark, it won't kill me."

Tony found himself growing angry. "Right, you really shouldn't let your pride get in the way Loki, just because it won't kill you doesn't mean I shouldn't know! We're alone, Loki, alone!" He felt his breath hitch in his throat. He didn't want to die out here, he didn't want Loki to die out here either. "You've got to work with me. If we're going to get out of this, we need to work together. And that means telling me things, _trusting_ me!" Tony stood over the god, who was gazing wearily at his outburst. Tony's head ached as he shouted, he'd almost forgotten about his concussion. 

"You really think trust is the correct sentiment?" There was such intense bitterness in Loki's voice. It drove through Tony like a knife. "But, fine. I shall get you back to your realm if I can manage."

Never had he seen Loki cave like that. It took the thoughts from his head. Surely Loki would complain or lash out? It's all Tony knew he did. "Wha- you think we can?"

"Yes, and I have a plan." That was fast. "When they come back and ask you if you are ready to answer say "no". If I am correct then they will collect and punish me."

As if he hadn't had enough? "I don't think you can take anymore, buddy." _Buddy?_ That was new.

"Listen, Stark. These things operate on fear, that's how they dominate. It appears to be a common occurrence in this cesspool between realms.” Loki's words were blunt. “They make you fear them, and because of the way your reacted to what they had done to me they will make them want to continue to do that; because it shocked you. So, they will continue to do just that until you are ready to talk." Loki was so nonchalant about it. If he was concerned about himself, it didn't show.

But he had to be. Because it was Loki, who was selfish and angry. Why did Tony have to keep reminding himself this? He known it ever since the guy destroyed a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in his grand entrance. And yet- "How's that going to help?"

"Because every time they take me I can get a look around this place."

 _But you're hurt._ "You've already been tortured, let me go I can-"

Again, Loki cut him off. “No, Stark, they know not the difference in strengths that we have. This kind of torture would most likely kill you. I am a fast healer and I am stronger by far. Eventually my energy will return and we can work from there. My plan _will_ work." Loki stared him in the eye without wavering. Tony sighed, frustrated, and looked away, unable to stand the unsettling closeness a second longer.

"Fine, but damn you, this better work."

A crooked smile lit Loki's pale face. "Damn me, indeed."

They sat waiting in tense silence. Tony stared at the wall; he couldn't look at Loki. To think about him. He'd done enough of that and his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

When the aliens finally did return they prepared themselves. "Iss the other ready to ansswer?" The lead alien rasped in question.

Tony took a deep breath, hoping for the best. "No…I um, I need more time to think."

The alien's dark eyes flashed angrily but it nodded. "Very well." It then pointed to Loki, three of its guards rushed over to grab him. "The firsst sshall be…quesstioned once more." The alien intoned its head towards Loki. Tony glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a flash of triumph in Loki's eyes, which was quickly replaced by a grim determination. "The other sshall be fed, I will return with the firsst, in time."

Tony watched as Loki was dragged out of the cell. Were they really doing this? Was he really putting his fate, and faith, in a homicidal madman? In _Loki?_ He'd never been one for relying on god, gods, whatever they were. The helplessness was overwhelming. Why was Loki doing this? For the life of him, he couldn't figure out if this was some trick of the god's.

Soon after he was brought some kind of broth and what looked like a water-skin; until then he hadn't realized how famished he felt. The broth wasn't great, but at least it was edible, which was more than he had been expecting. Tony was about to finish it off when he remembered that Loki probably wasn’t going to be fed. He put down the bowl, saving about a quarter of it for Loki and did the same for the water-skin. Then he sat and waited. "I can’t believe I’m doing this.” But he was doing this. Whatever _this_ was.


	4. 4

Four days had passed since the battle and Stark's disappearance. S.H.I.E.L.D. had been coming and going in the tower, setting up search networks and keeping the Avengers updated. The Avengers themselves had been searching and planning on their own. But, without any leads, it seemed fruitless.

At the moment Steve, Bruce, and Thor sat around a holographic display, going over ideas. Bruce spoke up after a long moment of silence. "Jarvis tell me again, what were the last few things the suit read before it went down?"

"Loki had arrived and was aiding Mr. Stark in the battle. Mr. Stark asked me to track him and deploy missiles if he got too close. After approximately ten minutes something compromised the two empty buildings and they began to crumble. Then the shoulder missiles deployed and the suit's system went down. I can assume that Loki got very close, causing the missiles to explode in dangerous proximity to the suit, temporarily shutting my system down."

"Thanks, Jarvis."

"My pleasure, Dr. Banner."

Bruce began typing, bringing up the recovered footage from the suit, he paused it when Loki first showed up. "So what do you think Thor? You know your brother the best."

"I am not sure; I have not known what my brother thinks for some time, truth be told. What he told Stark in these images could be the truth; I would like that to be so but… " Thor trailed off, his eyes sad. Steve knew it had to be hard on Thor, they'd been tugging at this fresh wound insistently. 

Bruce leaned back and began to massage his temple. He unpaused the video, searching for anything he had missed. "Four days and we are still no closer to having _any_ idea where Tony is. He could be anywhere in the world, no strike that, anywhere in general cause your brother had to get involved."

"I doubt he is on Asgard, he would have a hard time sneaking into my realm with Heimdall watching."

"Yeah _great_! That helps us a lot!"

"Bruce calm down, we'll figure this out." Steve stepped in, placing a hand on Bruce's shoulder. The doctor sighed with frustration but nodded and sat down, turning back to the screen. They were all frustrated. Realizing that it would be best to leave for the time, Steve motioned to Thor to follow him.

They sat staring over the city in silence. Steve's thoughts kept cycling back to Loki. A persistent, stubborn villain. Always laughing as they scrambled to catch up, only stopping once he was too ragged to even giggle. They always beat him but he always came back. If only Loki had followed a different path, Steve thought maybe they could have been friends. It was a rare person that possessed such fortitude. _Bullheadedness,_  he heard Bucky mutter in his ear, a long lost, exasperated, ghost that Steve buried soon as he emerged.

"It is possible that my brother is not responsible for this." Thor's voice broke his struggle.

"Thor, I- What do you mean- explain?" He'd been so caught in his own thoughts he barely noticed Thor's words.

"The images from Stark’s suit showed that the buildings had began to crumble, and that it was not Loki's doing, no? Then we know that Stark’s weapons exploded, they were only told to do so when Loki got close. Perhaps my brother tried to push Stark out of the way."

"Thor, Loki has tried to kill us on multiple occasions." As delicately as possible, Steve tried to let Thor down. "Why would he suddenly decide to show up to fight with us _and_ risk his life for Stark?" It didn't make any sense. But, then again, neither did getting back up every time he was beaten down.

"Why indeed, why would my brother show up to aid us in the battle? I may not understand my brother well but he does everything for a reason. Even if his views are skewed by hatred.” Thor paused, frowning. Steve hadn't been around to hear all the bile Loki threw towards Thor, but he'd heard enough to imagine what ran through Thor's head now. “Perhaps, once he joined the fight, he realized that we might find traces of his magic in the area, and if Stark had been crushed by the building he would have been to blame." Thor paused, chewing on his lip. "And," he hesitated again. "His heart has not been his mischief of late, it's uninspired."

"I don't know, Thor, shutting down New York's subway system for four days sounds pretty inspired to me."

But Thor just shook his head. "No, he's not the same. I know it."

Steve watched him sympathetically. "Either way, I think that if we find Loki, we find Stark. And this wouldn't be the first time Loki has had an alien army to attack us" Steve glanced at Thor, trying to read the god's expression. He'd never been good at the venture.

"If it was my brother's army then why would he attack it, not attack with it?"

"You said it yourself, we don't know what goes on inside Loki's head." 

Jarvis interrupted their conversation abruptly. "I am sorry to interrupt but Dr. Banner has requested that you two join him immediately, he seems to have found something." The two of them jumped in surprise. They glanced at each other, quickly getting up and rushing towards the lab.

"What is it Bruce, what did you find?" Steve entered the room, followed by Thor, rushing over to where the doctor was working. As the approached Bruce spun around on his chair, looking at them with bright eyes.

"Great you're here. Look!"

Turning back to the machine he typed something in. He scooted back, allowing the others to see what was playing. It was a video, of slightly lower quality than what they had seen before. It showed the fight from a different point of view. They were able to see all of what Loki had been doing throughout the fight. They watched as he appeared, then for the next few minutes, fought. They heard the sound of the buildings exploding, which caused Loki to stop and look up. He paused for a few moments then proceeded to fight, seemingly quicker. Then, without warning, he let off a burst of green energy, killing the aliens closest to him, and ran towards Stark, who was currently being swarmed by aliens. He smashed into Stark, killing some of the surrounding aliens. For a moment it looked like he tried to push Stark but was then surrounded by a large explosion, which had to be the suit's missiles. It was getting hard to see due to the increasing static and falling concrete. The last glimpse they had was Stark lying flat on the ground and Loki, kneeling on the ground, with one hand up in the air. Bruce then paused the recording as everything went dark and turned to them.

"Good, yeah?"

Steve looked at Bruce questioningly. "Yes, _very_ , but how did you get this? We haven't seen this before." Despite the new evidence, a pit of worry stayed in Steve's gut. There had been _so much_ rubble. There was no way they avoided that.

"Well, I noticed in the suit footage that there was a security camera on one of the buildings that wasn't destroyed. So I got Jarvis to hack into the system and got this footage from the time of the fight. Only problem is how grainy it is. Couldn’t fix that."

Thor broke into a grin. "This is wonderful friends, it shows that Loki was indeed trying to save Stark." He said it as if were the simplest thing in the world.

"Yes, but he failed." A headache bloomed across Steve's temple. "So why didn't we find them under the rubble?"

"Did you not see it, Captain? My brother was summoning a shield to protect them!" 

Steve didn't press how he knew. When you grow up with someone, you know their ticks. 

"I have seen my brother do it many a time. I am sure it is second nature to him. They were most definitely safe underneath the rubble, my brother is strong enough to hold a shield like that for some time. Even under that deal of weight." There was something close to pride in Thor's voice. Steve had to imagine a younger set of brothers, that same pride towards a different kind of Loki.

" 'xuse me." Bruce moved back in front of the screen again. "So if what you said is true, Thor, and I assume that it is, then we should have found them under the rubble, so maybe-" Bruce unpaused the recording, which showed only static. He sighed impatiently. "I don't have time for this. Jarvis is there any time after this point where there isn't just static?"

"Allow me to check, Dr. Banner, this may take a moment."

The three men sat in silence for a minute. Steve's mind hummed, though half of it was sentimental junk. He wasn't sure why this drug up memories, but it did and they were unavoidable the longer he watched Thor's hopeful face.

"Sir, the static begins to decrease approximately ten minutes before you arrive, I shall skip ahead to that point."

The recording shifted forward. Through the heavy static they could barely make out a picture. The static lessened more and the men gasped. The rubble was swarmed by aliens, all scuttling around it.

"What are they doing?"

They watched as the aliens moved like ants on a hill. The rubble shifted and they moved faster. For the next few minutes there was nothing but that. Then they slowed. From this point of view the men could barely see aliens disappearing into the rubble. A few minutes later a mass of aliens exited. From between the bodies the men glimpsed a flash of red and gold.

"Stark!"

As Stark disappeared off camera another group of aliens entered the rubble, larger this time. It took longer for them to reemerge this time, and the men noticed that the rubble would fall one section at a time. Finally the aliens emerged, leaning closer to the screen the three men could barely see what was behind the aliens, a figure in green and black, with long black hair, unmistakable even when covered in blood. As the aliens dragged Loki off camera the rubble finally collapsed. The recording paused, leaving a static silence in the air.

"After this sir, nothing more happens until you arrive."

"Thank you Jarvis; you were incredible."

"I am always here to help, Dr. Banner."

The three men turned to each other, Steve was the first to speak. "Well, wow, that explains a lot. We still have no idea where they are, but at least we know for sure who has them." Stark wasn't lost. It was a weight of his shoulders. 

"Yes, and we know that the aliens were not working for my brother, who seemed to be badly injured…" Thor trailed off, a deep frown furrowing his brow. Of course he was worried about Loki; when was he not? Even when Loki had them dangling off a skyscraper Thor kept up that worry.

"Right, and I can guess why they took them.” Steve sighed, his giddiness subsided. Just because Stark wasn't dead there didn't mean they could get him back easy. “Either to hold them for ransom or to interrogate them, depends on how smart their leaders are, of course. Hopefully it's for ransom, then we will be able to know where they are, at least. We might get some kind of ransom note.”

"Now we know what we must do, my friends, we must find them and get them back." Thor seemed to have recovered from his doubtfulness and slammed a hand down on the table in front of them. Steve wanted to share his conviction.


	5. 5

Tony had lost track of time, there were no days or nights that he could see so he decided to measure days by how many times Loki was taken for torture. That would mean it had been ten days. Every time the lead alien entered he would always give the same answer and Loki would always be taken, then Tony would always be fed. At the moment Tony sat waiting with his half empty bowl of broth. Surely Loki would be returned any time now, surely it had been hours since he had been taken. Like clockwork, the door opened and Loki was thrown in, the door was quickly closed without a word from their captors. Tony rushed over to Loki, hating that he couldn't help more.

He wasn't helpless. He was Tony Stark and Tony Stark wasn't helpless. But he was and he knew it.

The first time, when Loki had been returned, Tony had tried to move him to a more comfortable position, but had ended up hurting him more. They had developed a system after a few days. Tony would leave Loki alone for a while to figuratively lick his wounds, until Loki was strong enough to move on his own. Once he was able to speak Loki would immediately go into any new information he had learned, he refused to discuss what he had gone through otherwise, despite Tony’s insistent efforts.

But what were worst, and what went unspoken of, were the nights. (Or pseudo-nights, since their light never changed) Tony barely slept, even less than usual, something about being a prisoner just didn't sit right with him. _Sarcasm wasn't helping._  Loki rarely did either. But when he did... The first time, Loki woke up screaming. He screamed a name Tony didn't know. _Thanos_. It was raw fear that sent Tony's insides squirming. He had pretended not to be awake. Other times, Loki barely muttered. But he did and what he said could fill a hundred horror movies. He muttered of dark places, muttered about inescapable cold, biting knives, wriggling bugs, and falling. Falling was a favorite topic of unconscious Loki. Occasionally, he called out for Thor. Tony hated when he did that most of all, it made him sick. _Pity_. What a thing it was for the guy responsible for breaking his ribs more than once.

"Ah…I found out something new…" Loki sat up after a particularly long post 'interrogation' bout, wheezing slightly. He reached for the bowl of broth, bringing it to his mouth and draining the liquid. He sat the bowl down, listlessly picking at the chunks of meat. Tony had to doubt he had much of an appetite. Clear burns scorched his forearms, piled atop cuts and bruises.

"Really, what did you find?" Hope fluttered, a long dormant emotion.

Loki flashed him a tight smile, then brought his hand to eye level and opened it. Tony watched as a small green flame danced across Loki's fingertips. Loki closed his hand and the flame disappeared.

"Your magic is coming back more! Great!" He wasn't sure entirely what it meant but it was a step.

"Yes, it is even better than it looks as well. Fire is an element I have always had trouble summoning, I never understood why until recently…" Loki grimaced and Tony wondered about his nightly mutterings. About _inescapable cold_. "But that matters not. This is a very positive development. I will be able to heal faster now."

Tony's relief was tempered. "Won't they notice?"

"I think I can create a simple glamour on my body to resemble my injuries. They will be none the wiser." 

"How could you tell?" Tony cocked his head. He'd rather not ruin the moment by pushing Loki on a sore subject and so chose an easy one.

"Hmmm?" Loki gazed at him, his eyes tired. But even through the exhaustion, Tony could see a curious spark. It was becoming familiar. Tony seemed to fascinate the god.

And he wasn't sure whether he liked that or not. "How could you tell when you got your magic back?" For now, he chose to ignore it.

Loki sighed and closed his eyes but a smirk played at his cracked and chapped lips. "I have trouble explaining seidr to those who do not possess it. You see, my ability to work this art is a part of me. I suppose something clicked in my mind. It usually there, just out of reach unless I have need of it. Of course, at the moment I am still in quite a weakened state. Eventually I will have my full range of abilities back, but for now we are stuck with small flames and illusions." He sounded a little proud.

Tony stared at Loki. So much for an easy conversation. He was on a roll now. "How do you do it?"

"What, my magic? Stark, you cannot really expect-"

"No, no, how can you be tortured to the brink of death every day and shrug it off knowing you will have to go through with it again?" Tony again remembered Afghanistan, his own torture; but that had been only a few times. They needed him intact for the Jericho. This, what these aliens were doing to Loki, was ridiculous. It was callous and thoughtless.

Loki scowled, Tony was sure he wasn't going to get an answer, but then Loki's demeanor shifted. "I have told you, I have gone through worse." An old ghost haunted Loki's eyes.

"What's worse than this?" Tony knew. The fearful mutterings of Loki's fitful sleep filled him in. But he wanted to hear it. The only thing that helped Tony forget his own was work and Pepper. But Loki didn't have either, he just had him. Tony wanted that to be enough.

Loki's eyes became unfocused, a hand inched towards his gut. "A body can be broken a thousand times as long as the mind remains intact. When compared to the Titan, this is fun and games. They need to work on their form." 

How bad had it been? Tony shuddered to imagine what had broken him. Was that the name Loki so feared? Was that his old tormentor? "How did you ever survive that?"

Loki glared at him weakly; if their was their line, Tony think he crossed it. "I shall rest now."

"Oh, yeah, of course, go ahead." Tony silently wondered what the nightmares would be this time. 

Loki shifted over to the wall, propping himself up, and closed his eyes.

Tony couldn't help but wonder what Loki had been like before he and the rest of the team had met him, before he had tried to kill them all. From what Thor had told them Loki had always been quiet but ready for a good time whenever one came up. Thor hadn't really told them much more than that. Tony supposed he wanted to keep personal memories to himself, which made sense. Some memories were too sore a subject to share, Tony knew that well enough. But the way Thor had talked about Loki, it sounded like the brothers had a good relationship for most of their life. Though, maybe that was Thor's view. But the relatively 'fun' Loki that Thor told them about was not the same one that lay on the cold ground of an alien cell in front of Tony and screamed himself out of sleep.

This Loki, Tony had once considered just a bad guy, but now he wasn't sure what to think of him. Tony shook his head and scowled. "You are the most confusing piece of shit I've ever met, Loki." The words he didn't mean to slip out.

"Thank you for the compliment, Stark, now stop staring at me if you please." Loki mumbled, opening one eye to smirk at Tony.

 

Tony watched as the cell door was opened and Loki was thrown in.

A few pseudo-days had passed since the excitement over Loki's returning magic but not much had changed. The lack of food and water had made Tony irritable and had, according to Loki, lessened the amount of energy returning to his magic. When Loki had told Tony this, Tony had snapped at him, which he had immediately regretted and apologized for. Apologize to Loki? What a weird concept.

"Oh fuck, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, ugh, you can't help it."

"No, you have every right to be frustrated. I have not been getting the results we hoped for." Still, it sounded like Loki harbored some resentments of his own.

Tony had then tried to give him a larger portion of the food, but Loki was adamant about the portions.

"No, Stark, I will not take more of your food. We get little enough and my body can survive longer proper without nutrients than yours."

"Dude, you look like shit, just eat a bit more." There had to be some way to ease his guilt. Or his helplessness.

"I would say you look worse, but you probably do not, and again, no."

And now as Tony watched Loki lie face up on the floor with his eyes half open, he couldn't help but agree. Loki's usually sleek black hair was tangled, matted with days worth of dried blood, looking at it Tony was glad he had short hair. His eyes were sunken slightly, with deep bags of exhaustion under them; whatever fitful sleep he got clearly wasn't doing the job. His lips were cracked and bloody. His undershirt was so thoroughly saturated with blood that none of the original color could be seen, only the dark red of dried blood existed. Tony looked down at Loki's hand and saw that some of his fingers were obviously broken, but even as he looked the popped back into place, healing themselves.

"That's always so weird."

"Get used to it, Stark. May I have the food now?" Loki pointed towards the bowl, voice formal and distant.

"Here." Tony handed the bowl to Loki, watching him carefully. What was with the icy coolness? It was always a guessing game, every damn day.

Loki took it with a shaking hand.  He looked at the bowl for a long few seconds then looked back at Tony. "Stark, stop trying to give me some of your portions."

Look, I'm trying to get us out of here faster!" Tony's reply was snappy and defensive.

"I understand but you need energy if we are going to escape.” Loki paused for a moment. “I've figured out how we are getting out of here, by the way."

The words clicked into place a few moments after Loki uttered them. "Wait, what, when were you going to tell me?!"

"Just now."

"Well, shit, what is it?" Were they going home? _Home_. 

"There is some sort of ship I see when they are taking me to be tortured. I assume that ship either can take us back to Midgard, or has some sort portal device. I'm guessing the latter, given where we are."

"Great, so you'll be able to figure out how to get us back?"

"Oh, no, I am going to make their leader tell us."

"How?"

"By threatening him, obviously." Loki smirked nastily.

Tony realized the movement no longer made him shudder. "You think that will work?"

"Of course. I will frighten him, it will work out wonderfully."

They sat in silence while Loki ate. Tony decided to broach a topic he had been wondering about in his more hopeful moments. "So after we get back, what are you going to do?" 

There was a long pause before Loki spoke. "What do you mean, Stark?" Loki knew what he meant, Tony knew it.

"You can't pretend that nothing had changed." Something had. _Something_. Loki wasn't what Tony thought he was. He saw what Thor had spoke of, or, something close. Something, someone close to himself.

"Why can I not?" Despite his oblivious tone, Loki couldn’t meet Tony’s eyes. 

Stupid, stubborn god. "Because something has, Loki, that's why!"

"Perhaps something has changed between us, but nothing has changed between me and the rest of the universe or your little team." Loki’s voice was rough and bitter.

"I'm not going to be able to fight you without remembering that you saved my life by risking yours." Frustrated, Tony rubbed his temples. How could he make Loki understand he didn't want to fight him anymore when even Thor couldn't do that.

"You may have to."

"God dammit, Loki."

"What would you have me do?" It came off like a genuine question.

Tony floundered for an answer. His thoughts had skipped the nasty part and gone straight to a happier time, an easier time. "I don't know, you could go through therapy and join us. I just don't want to have to fight you again. The idea leaves a bad taste in my mouth." After what Loki was doing for him, how could Tony be expected to fight back?

"What is therapy?"

Alien. Right. "Wha-ah, umm, I guess therapy is where you talk to a doctor and work out your problems. That could be a good description, I guess. I don’t know from personal experience.” He stifled a bitter laugh. 

"So like healing of the mind?"

"If you want to call it that…"

Loki sighed and set the bowl down, he looked at Tony with weary eyes. "Remember what I said about not trusting me, well-"

"Yeah, well I changed my mind, I do trust you." Stubbornly, Tony crossed his arms and stared Loki down. He hadn't ever said that out loud before. His insides squirmed as Loki stared, agape.

"I- you…you trust the God of Lies? Are you-"

"Yes, and before you call me an idiot, yes I am, I know, but I do trust you."

Loki looked speechless, he opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again. He licked his dry lips and chuckled.

"So, again, what are you going to do when we get out of here?" Tony was insistent now. If this was coming to a close, he needed an answer.

"Oh Stark, I am not sure. I will need time to recover my strength-"

"Stay with us, it's my building, they can't kick you out and I'm sure Thor wouldn't mind horribly; he still wants you to be his brother again, you know."

Tension immediately flooded into Loki's body as he drew back. "But I am not, I have never been his true brother." Tony thought of his murmured calls for Thor, whatever Loki told himself, it wasn't the truth.

"You're adopted, so what, you still spent a thousand years with him as your brother, you are still his brother even if you aren't technically related to him."

"Every second of every day of those thousand years was a lie, everything was a lie, who I am, what I am, where I come from, _everything_. That is no small fact to overlook. Even you must realize this." Loki sounded overwhelmingly bitter. 

"So you aren't technically from the royal family or whatever, you still have the same blood in your veins."

Loki looked taken aback and confused. "I am not- Thor hasn't- eh, never mind, you shall find out soon enough. So, what _has_ Thor told you about our past?" Loki looked at him intently, something about Tony's last comment seemed to have shook him. 

Not for the first time since their imprisonment, Tony wished Thor had shared more on Loki. "Ummm, just a few stories. We never really asked. It’s not really something we talk about. Why, do you have anything to add?" He hoped Loki would share. But it was a pipedream and he knew it.

"Ah, I have a few stories I know Thor would never tell you.” Something in Loki’s voice softened. “There is a good one with a group of bandits and a snake that I can remember off the top of my head, but it would take too long to tell, ask me another time."

"I'll remember that. And you will tell me once this is over."

"If S.H.I.E.L.D. does not immediately arrest me after our return, that is. I will most likely not have much energy left, for a time, after our escape."

"Yeah, no again, not happening. I don't care if I have to lie directly to Fury's face about you being in my building, you are going to stay until you get enough energy back.” Tony grinned, he needed to help in some way. This useless feeling was inescapable. “You deserve to rest in style, instead of where you usually stay, wherever that is."

"Oh yes, I'm sure the Widow and the Hawk shall _love_ that."

"I told you, too bad for them, it's my building. They live under my roof and they can deal with it.”

"Although I expect S.H.I.E.L.D. will want to keep you under monitored care until you become more healthy. They do like their thinly veiled prison cells.” Loki smirked crookedly. His arguments circled in on themselves like a broken record.

"I couldn’t care less. What are they gonna do, force me to do something I don’t want to? Fury knows better than to try that.”

Loki's demeanor shifted and he took up a more serious tone. "I am thinking we escape in two days."

" _Great_ , absolutely ready to get out of this hellhole.” Tony frowned for a moment. “But what about my suit?" He'd been silently hoping it was salvageable. It had been a good model.

"We can attempt to find it in the small window of time we will have before we may be overrun, but you can always build another, no?"

"Yeah, I can, I guess.” Tony scowled, he'd been through a lot with that one. “Damn, I can't wait to get out of here." 

"It is success or death, a most dangerous game." Loki, despite his ominous words, smiled.

"My favorite kind."


	6. 6

An explosion rocked the city. Steve watched it ripple his coffee.

"Everyone to the main room!" Steve watched as the four other Avengers piled out of the elevator. He turned around to look out the window again, seeing the mass of aliens downtown. "It's them again." Maybe they could finally get some answers.

"The aliens that took Stark?" Clint shouldered his bow.

"And my brother." Thor spoke up, more than a little defensive.

"Yeah, and him." Thor frowned at Clint's blasé tone but then turned back to Steve as Clint kept talking. "What is the plan?"

"We're going to go down there and confront them. There's only a few explanations as to why they've come back, either they are coming back to hold Stark and Loki for ransom, or," Steve shook his head. "They've come back to kill us. Let's hope it's the first."

The team fought their way downtown, taking down scores of alien creatures as they did. This was their element, _this_ was what their team did.

"It doesn't really look like they want to talk, Captain!" Steve heard Natasha shout somewhere nearby. Busy tackling a line of aliens, Steve didn't reply. Every so often he would see some of the aliens attacking him drop to the ground, arrows sticking out of their skulls, or heard roars and saw aliens go flying past him, or saw flashes of lightning from somewhere nearby.

The fighting continued until one alien was indecipherable from the other. Steve kept his head down, acting and reacting without thinking about Stark or Loki. Finally they reached Central Park and a new scene unfolded. There a large group of aliens waited, huddled in a circle. Steve saw this and came to a halt, holding up a hand. "Guys don't fire on this group, this looks like it could be something." He hoped it was. Tearing apart these aliens wasn't much of a catharsis until they had Stark back.

Natasha stepped up beside him, her gun trained on the group. They watched as the circle parted and one alien, carrying a satchel, approached. Steve knew what this was; he didn't much want to bargain but their options were limited. It stopped just within earshot and held up a rough cloth satchel. Then it spoke. "We come with wordss from high. Within our posssesssion we have two beingss of importance."

The alien then untied the satchel and took out what was inside. It was the suit's helmet and another of Loki's daggers. The alien threw them towards Steve and Natasha with surprising ease. They clattered to the pavement near Steve's feet.

"To prove we have the important beingss we bring you their posssesssions. We have requestss. High requestss information and weaponry of the most ssecret manner. If thesse requestss are not met high sshall end the livess of the two beingss in our posssesssion and lay ssiege upon thiss planet. You sshall not sstop uss. We sshall return in two dayss for your _correct_ ansswer." The alien then signaled to the mass behind it. They parted, allowing the messenger alien into their ranks again. There was a flash of silver light that forced Steve to shield his eyes. When he looked up again the thousands of aliens were gone.

Steve turned to Natasha. She bent down, picking up Tony's helmet, leaving Loki's dagger on the ground with a look of mistrust. "What now, Captain?"

 

The Avengers sat back at Stark Tower in an all too familiar formation.

"Anyone else getting deja-vu?" Clint asked the circle of heroes, all staring at the two items on the table. Natasha gave him a chastising look. “Sorry, but we've been staring at these things for like the past ten minutes."

Steve sighed, rubbing his temple. The aliens hadn't even let them get a word in edgewise. "Well, at least we know they are alive." _Alive_. It was something. If Stark was alive they still had a chance.

Bruce nodded, not taking his eyes off Tony's helmet. "Can't say I'm too thrilled that Loki's still kicking but at least Tony is." A part of Steve agreed. Thor shot Bruce an unhappy look, but said nothing. "So what exactly are we going to do, Steve?"

The group turned to look at him. He frowned then took a deep breath. "We obviously can't give them what they want-"

"Right! Er-sorry…" Clint coughed and stayed quiet.

"- but if we don't they kill Stark, Loki, and us. So, I'm thinking that when they return in two days, we have the entirety of S.H.I.E.L.D's forces and anyone else we can muster there waiting." Steve ignored the pit of worry in his stomach. It wasn't the first time he'd done this. But it'd never been quite so alien. "We'll jump them, hopefully we overpower them and get the two back. They seem to rely heavily on their leader, so if we can take him out that could cause them to panic and go into disarray."

"What if our forces are not enough?" Bruce looked to Steve.

"Then they will kill Stark and my brother." Thor sighed, though he looked determined.

"It is a risk we have to take, Thor. We need to get S.H.I.E.L.D on this right away. Natasha, Clint, can you get them fully informed?" For once, Steve was glad they had the support of Director Fury.

"Our pleasure, Captain. See you in two days." The two agents took their leave.

The remaining men watched the agents leave.

Bruce ran a hand through his hair. "Clint is right, I'm getting a major feeling of deja-vu."

"Except this time we know exactly what is going on." It was a small comfort.

Comfort that Bruce didn't seem to take much part in. "Yeah."

Thor stood up, grabbing Loki's dagger and staring at it. "Friends we have seen their numbers. I do not know if we can win this battle, prepared or not." It was unlike him to fall into pessimism but Loki was the one thing that made an exception. 

"We have to try, Thor." Steve said, trying to brush off his own doubts.

Steve looked up at the god, who nodded in agreement. "If we have any chance of winning we must prepare as necessary,"

"Two days really isn't a lot of time." Bruce ran a hand through his hair. He was right, of course.

"It's better than nothing." True. Still, not good.

Bruce stood up, suddenly, cracking a tired smile. "I'm going to see if Tony has any weapon plans or weapons locked away here."

"Let's hope for the best."


	7. 7

It was finally the day, they were going to break out today. Tony repeated that fact to himself again and again. As if saying it would make it certain. Tony knew the plan by heart and was not about to let it fail.

"Are you ready?" Loki's voice made him jump. He turned to find the Trickster standing by the cell door, staring at him intently. Even with his greater healing, Tony could still see fresh cuts scored into Loki's neck. Loki's cheeks were hollow and thin, his hands, trembled slightly and were bonier than they had ever been when they the times they wrapped themselves around Tony's neck. 

Tony got up to stand by him. "Ready as I'll ever be." This felt _right_. They were going to get out of this.

Loki nodded, a glint of wicked glee in his dull eyes. He turned to the door, placing a hand on its smooth surface. Tony watched as he mouthed words in an alien language.

Silently as could be, the door slid open.

Loki rushed out, killing the two guards with blasts of energy. Tony followed quickly behind him. They sprinted through the maze of floating rocks until they reached a ship of dark metal. "Quickly, Stark, quickly." Loki pressed his hand against the door, opening it like the other one; they slipped inside without being noticed. "We will look for your suit and my armor for as long as we can." 

They snuck through the winding corridors, at every corner Loki would create a crystal of ice on the wall, marking where they had been. Every door they opened revealed nothing. Damn. _Damn_.

"Stark, we must go, they will know that their prisoners have escaped by now." Loki hissed in his ear after many fruitless rooms of searching. His thin hands lingered delicately on Tony's wrist. It was, Tony realized, the first time he'd ever felt the god's touch so gentle. Loki seemed to realize this too, as he pulled back and ran the hand through his knotted hair hastily. 

"Just one more room." Tony hefted one last door open and Loki didn't argue. When Tony looked inside he saw what he had been hoping for, sort of. " _My suit_ ," he cried out, dismayed. "What the hell did those _bastards_ to do my suit?" His suit lay in pieces on the floor, clearly ripped apart by inexpert hands. Wiring frayed from it. All his delicate work in ruin.

"Is my armor in there? Ah, yes, good." Loki slipped by Tony, going over to examine his armor, which was piled on the ground in a heap beside Tony's.

"I can't believe it, those assholes…"

"Wonderful, now we need to go." Tony turned to see Loki slipping on the last pieces of his armor. He almost looked like his old, menacing, self again. But the armor, already something Tony thought was overlarge, seemed to hang loosely from his frame. Once, it had made him look a bigger threat. Now, Tony felt it only made him look thinner, smaller. And, though it covered his myriad of bruises, burns, and cuts, Loki's hollow cheeks remained. As close as he did look to his old self, this person wasn't the same one that had threatened Tony so many a time.

"It seems they took my daggers, wouldn't be a problem save my..." Loki scowled, dusting off his armor. "Weakened state. Summoning physical objects is outside of my hands. But no matter."

Tony took one last look at the scraps of metal on the floor, he hesitated, then grabbed what used to be part of his right hand repulsor. It flickered weakly as he fiddled with its wires. The two of them moved quickly through the silent corridors. If he could just get it working- "I'm going to kill them. They totally wrecked it."

"No, Stark, you do not get that pleasure." Loki’s voice was cold and vicious. It left no room for argument.

"Fine, as long as they pay."

They wandered around the winding corridors for a few more minutes. "Ummm, are we lost?" Tony didn't like the hesitation in Loki's movements, where there had been such single minded certainty.

"Of course not! Merely…unsure of where to go." Loki snapped back at him. It had been too quiet so far. They had expected to fight their way towards the leader. Loki's hand flew up, knocking Tony back. He pushed them behind a corner with no delicacy.

"Wha-?" Loki pressed a hand against his mouth. 

"Shush, listen."

Then Tony heard a shuffling sound from somewhere nearby.

"The beingss have esscaped. The beingss sshall regret it when they are caught."

Tony glanced at Loki, who was unmoving. The god seemed coiled like a snake, his quick eyes darted back and forth, no doubt formulating some plan. They stayed in that position until the sounds of the alien faded away. "Why the hell was it speaking English," he muttered to Loki.

"Perhaps it knows that we might be nearby and that was for our benefit." Loki glanced back at him, nothing reassuring about his scowl.

"Are we changing the plan, then? I mean, that’s definitely a trap." Doubt continued to worm its way into his head despite how Tony fought. _They were going to make it. They had to._

"No, of course not. In fact, that helped us quite a lot. We now know where to go."

Once more they hurried through the corridors, this time though, Loki seemed to know where they were heading. They stopped outside a large door. Loki made a shushing motion and cocked his head to hear what was going on inside. After a few minutes he turned back to Tony. "There are only three aliens in the room. Two are very close to the door, likely guards. I am not sure how far away the other one is." Loki whispered the information quickly to Tony. In the dark, his sharp features seemed hauntingly enhanced.

Tony knew the plan and nodded. Without speaking, Loki grit his teeth and pushed his spindly hand flat against the door. After a few moments, it slid open and Tony's heart jumped to his throat.

With a flash of green light Loki dropped the two guards to the ground, in matching ashen heaps.Tony rushed in quickly as Loki leapt toward the lead alien.

The room they were in was large, with some sort of control panel in the back. Tony bent down and picked up one of the slain alien's spears. He looked up and saw Loki holding the lead alien up against the wall. He rushed forward. "Pathetic creature, do you have _any idea_ what doom you have placed upon yourself and you entire race?!" Loki spat at the alien, a look of terrifying fury twisting his face into all pointed angles and bared teeth.

The alien struggled to break his grip. "The firsst holdss no fear over I."

"Oh, no fear, yes for a monster like you, why should you fear me?" Loki let out a cruel laugh.

Tony could hear the madness in it. This was a side of Loki he hadn't seen in awhile. And a sudden chill went down his spine. In the mess he’d all but forgotten why Loki was their enemy in the first place. Loki wasn't Yinsen, or a second chance to save someone like Yinsen. He was _Loki_ , and Loki... was Loki.

"A monster, a _monster_ , that is what you should fear. A _real_ monster. Would you like to see something, oh pathetic creature?" Loki summoned a dagger of ice in his free hand. He brought it up, as if to stab the alien. But then plunged it into his own arm with a spurt of red blood. Tony gasped. _What the hell was he thinking?_ This wasn't part of the plan. Loki's face contorted into a twisted visage of pain and hatred. When Tony looked down at Loki's arm he doubletaked. Where the ice was lodged in Loki's flesh blue had started to appear. Tony watched as it raced up Loki's body, creating dark ridges on his flesh, turning his nails black, and his eyes blood red.

"Now, let us talk, monster to monster, eh? Who is a better monster? I, who was born in the land of monsters, I, a killer, who has attempted mass genocide and the enslavement of a realm, or _you_ who cannot even keep proper track of his captives. You, who can't even manage a proper torture." Loki spat in the thing's face. "Speak pathetic excuse for a life, you have not much longer! Your skin may be thicker than most but the cold will kill you all the same!"Loki threw back his head and let out a manic laugh that Tony couldn't tell was real or for effect.

He was no doubt the same Loki that had fought Tony countless times before. Then Loki drew the alien closer to him, so he was right in its face. "I will be the last thing you ever see, monst-"

The alien made a swift motion and the words died in Loki's mouth. He dropped the now dead body of the alien and doubled over. Tony glanced at the alien, then noticed what it was holding in its hand.

A long bladed dagger, coated in thick, black blood.

Tony connected the dots, stomach turning, and rushed over to Loki, dropping the spear. Despite what his brain told him he feared for Loki’s life.

"Wait…do not _touchme_ …I will…hurt--you!" Loki shied away from Tony, coughing up more globules of black blood. The panic in Loki's voice was as raw as the mania had been only moments before. It cut through Tony like a knife.

"Then changed back, dammit, change back!" Damn, damn, not again. He wasn't Yinsen but... but Tony couldn't see this happen again. Another person wasn't going to die for him. Bleed out in a dark, dirty cave just to save Tony Stark's life. That couldn't happen again.

"Not enough… blade…poisoned with some kind of toxin" Loki wheezed, pain flickering across his face as his red eyes skittered across the room "…lung punctured…" Loki pulled himself to his feet, everything underneath his hands freezing as he touched it. His red eyes were pained but a strange acceptance started to spread through them. He stumbled toward the panel of controls. "Already…cali…brated…to Midgard." He doubled over again, struggling to breath, splattering the walls with black blood as he coughed and wheezed.

"Great, quickly, what do we have to do to get it working?!" Tony felt himself panicking, more than ever he felt useless and he hated himself for it. It was Afghanistan again. This was a horror story. There was _so much blood._

Loki tried to rise to his feet, but couldn't and fell to all fours again with a sickening 'thump'. His armor was slicked with black blood. He pointed to a small, oval, button on the panel. "Press it…takes all…life in…ro _om._ " He hissed out the words as his arms shook.

Tony leapt over Loki's crumpled, blue, figure and slammed his fist on the button _. Please work please work please work._

The air started to crackle and Tony's ears popped, he gritted his teeth. Then with a sound of hissing air and a flash of silver light, he stood in Central Park. Hundreds of people surrounded him, helicopters and jets were in the air. The bright sun nearly blinded him and Tony raised a hand to shield himself from the light. Despite Loki's warnings, his other hand inched towards the still figure.

"Wait, no!" He heard a familiar voice shout. _Steve_. Never thought he'd be so grateful to hear him. Five figures detached themselves from the front of the group and ran towards him. Realizing he was not about to be shot he kneeled down to Loki. Tony could see the ground freezing underneath him and a puddle of dark black blood forming from his chest. _So much blood_. At least it wasn't bullet holes. Though, as Tony tried to choke down panic, he imagined he saw them, peppering Loki's chest into swiss cheese.

"Loki, dammit, don't die on me. You've helped me too much, dammit, you can't die on me! I won’t let that happen again!" Loki focused weakly on him and grinned. His teeth were smeared dark with coughed up blood. He let out a small laugh and more came up.

Bile rose in Tony's throat. _Oh god, oh god._

Then the five Avengers reached them. They stopped, gaping at the scene, of Loki's blue, dying, body, of Tony, thin and scraggly. Thor was the first to take action even though his eyes were dark with something more than fear. If Tony cared he might have thought it was surprise, hesitation maybe. "My brother must be healed quickly." He reached for Loki even though his eyes never lost the strange light.

"Wait, he said that touching him hurts you!" Tony looked frantically at Thor. The god put a hand on Tony's shoulder for a moment, then picked up Loki, who could do little but squirm and cough up more blood, careful not to touch his skin. "I shall take him to your healers. They may not be of much help but they are the only hope we have.” Thor spun his hammer and flew off. Despite his calm voice, thunder rumbled somewhere distant.

Tony stood there, surrounded by the others. "I'm _home_." Home. He wanted a cheeseburger and his bed. He wanted _sleep_. Then his vision flickered and the last thing he remembered was Steve grabbing him by the shoulders as his knees buckled.

 

It had been a week and a half since the day Tony had returned to Earth and he was finally being released from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s care. He had been given little information, he only knew that Loki was alive and being held under custody. His conditions for letting himself be cared for by S.H.I.E.L.D. were that they also took care of Loki. Not for the first time, Tony pushed his luck with his station.

As soon as he was released he went to Steve. "Where is he?"

"Tony, you really should go home-" Steve sounded hesitant but clearly didn't want to openly rebuke him.

"No, Rogers," He put his foot down, firm as he had ever spoken to the soldier. "He saved my life. I'm not leaving until I _thank him._ "

Steve had sighed but hadn’t argued further on the matter, taking Tony to where Loki was being held. There was something odd in Steve's eyes that Tony didn't care to decipher.

It was a small, heavily monitored room. The guards looked at them as they approached but didn’t move. Inside sat Loki, returned to his normal color, strapped to a bed, chains rattled around his thin wrists, with Thor sitting across from him. From the look on his face Tony could tell Loki was not pleased. Not angry just... exasperated. He looked better than Tony could have hoped.

Heart in his throat, Tony turned to one of the guards. "Let me in; _now_." The guard hadn't budged an inch despite Tony's proximity.

"I'm not-"

Steve stepped in. "Let him in." _Bless that soldier's command._ Tony'd have to finish that shield upgrade he'd been toying with.

The guard stared at them, then flashed a key card, allowing Tony entrance. When he entered Loki looked up, his scowl faded to a blank expression as he watched Tony approach. "Hello, Stark." He spoke with all the interest of a dozing cat. 

"You know you can stop calling me by my last name." Despite Loki's obvious play at disinterest, Tony found little annoyance. He was actually okay. There had been so much blood. He'd thought for a while--

"Why stop now?" A thin grin split Loki's cracked lips, it was empty on joy.

"You've called me Anthony before, on accident, once." He'd thought little of it at the time. "A bit formal though, “ _Tony_ ” is fine."

"Oh." Tony could tell that Loki was deliberately not meeting his eyes.

"So you didn't die, that's good." Was this really the best he could do? He shuffled like a college freshman around their crush. All he had to do was say thank you. Except, no. It was more than a thank you. He owed something now and he wasn't sure Loki would let him pay that due off.

"Yes, surprisingly they were able to keep me alive. _Unfortunate_ , seeing as the company they decided to allow." He glared halfheartedly at Thor, who sat beside him and stared with frightening intensity into Loki's face. Loki shifted uncomfortably and his chains rattled. Tony could tell he wanted out from this place. Couldn't really blame him.

Crossing his arms, Tony stared him down too. "So I assume you didn't completely fill me in for our plan. Was that really what was planned?"

"Being stabbed…no…the rest, yes." Again the humorless grin. "And yes, I didn't tell you the entire plan but does that really surprise you? There anything else you want, St-…Anthony?" He gulped slightly, as if the name felt wrong to say. Or if the intimacy of the name caught him off-guard.

"Just want to say thank you and," Now or never.  "Was wondering if you still want to take me up on my offer."

"Your-oh." Now there was something genuine in Loki's grin. "I would, but at the moment I seemed to be strapped to a bed." He rattled his chains with a glare of annoyance.

"I'll see what I can do." Tony returned the grin, then turned around and started to walk out, he heard Thor get up to follow him.

"I will return soon, brother."

" _Joy_." Loki’s sarcastic reply was the last thing Tony heard before he left the room. He remembered the cries for Thor in a fevered sleep and, in an instant, resolved never to tell the blonde god. That was clearly something Loki wasn't ready to deal with.

Tony walked down the hallway with Thor and Steve.

"What was your _offer_ , Tony?" Steve looked at him suspiciously out of the corner of his eye. Despite his willingness to play ball so far, Tony could tell he was coming to the end of his metaphorical rope.

Tony shrugged. "To let him stay with us while he recovers." He said it as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Which, it definitely wasn't. Maybe if he pretended well enough, it could be.

Steve spun him around and stared at him. "Tell me you're joking." There was nothing gentle about the motion. Even Thor seemed surprised.

"I'm not." Tony kept his voice steady, unwilling to waver.

" _Why_  would you let him stay with us?!" Agents walking past glanced back as Steve cried out. 

"Because, Steve, he saved my life." The muttered horrors of Loki's sleep echoed in his head. And the blood, all the blood and the broken bones and the bile. "And maybe I think he can change!" Beside him, Thor let out a soft murmur.

"So you think that he is just going to go along with us and become a good guy? Because he helped you one time?" Steve looked like he wanted to laugh. Tony was glad he didn't or Tony might have punched him. And that wouldn't do anything but break Tony's nicely healing hands.

"I'm saying that he's on the line between good and bad! Maybe--" He had to believe it. That had to be true. "Maybe we give him a push in the right direction and he's one of us!" Tony lowered his voice, frustrated, as more agents rushed past them but were no doubt listening. Everything in these S.H.I.E.L.D. buildings was designed to record them.

Steve snorted sarcastically. God, he wanted to punch him. "Good luck convincing Fury on that one." If Steve had been at the end of his metaphorical rope, Tony had clearly just ripped it away and shredded it.

"I don't need luck because you're going to help me."

"I am _not_." Steve balked. _Yes he was._

"He may be right. My brother was not as... visibly or verbally angry with me as he normally has been." Thor laughed slightly, a bit melancholic. "He tolerated my presence and hasn't tried to escape yet." There was a small smile on his face. A thing like hope flickered in his blue eyes. It was the first time Tony had seen Thor anything but saddened by his estranged brother.

"Thor..." Steve sighed with exasperation but hesitated. Obviously, Tony wasn't the only one to notice Thor's hope.

"See!” Tony grinned at Thor briefly. “Look, Rogers, would you rather have Loki as our enemy or our ally?"

Steve sighed. "Fine, but I don't _like_ it. Let's go talk to Fury." Tony noticed how Steve's gaze lingered on Thor. Maybe he imagined it but there was some old ache in Steve's eyes. For a moment, Tony wondered what had happened when he was gone. What had they thought?

After a long heated discussion, Fury finally caved. "Listen to me, Stark, one wrong move on his part and we lock him right back up, no second chances."

Tony grinned triumphantly. "Deal, I'll go get him." He wondered, briefly, it Fury was going easy on him because of what he went through. But that just wasn't Fury's style.

"I shall come and aid you." Thor followed him out the door, smile wide. His hands were light and fluttery. It made Tony smile; Thor was happier than Tony had ever seen him.

 _Where could he put Loki?_ He'd probably like a view of the harbor. But maybe he'd give him a lookout on Jersey, just to spite him. Couldn't have Loki thinking he had it all. Humming, Tony mused as he walked down the hallway beside the massive blonde god.

 

Steve and Fury watched the two men leave. Steve turned to Fury. "This isn't going to work." Though some small part of him wanted it to. For Thor's sake, at least. Not everyone got a second chance with those they loved. Especially like this, back from the dead, back from something worse than dead.

"Of course not." Fury seemed to share none of his sentimentality. Not that Steve could tell if he did. "Keep an eye on him; we aren't letting him get the better of us just because Stark went soft on him."

"Yes, sir." 

 

Three days had passed since Loki had been moved in with the rest of the Avengers. He had been mostly confined to his room, as his energy was still low, but every so often he would come down to the main room and simply sit down. This always startled the majority of the Avengers, only Tony and Thor didn't mind Loki’s presence. The distrustful glares directed his way only seemed to amuse the god, which, in turn, further annoyed the Avengers.

Sometimes when Steve was walking past Loki's room he would hear Loki and Tony talking. Whenever Steve asked Tony about it he would simply reply. "Therapy." Steve couldn't tell his he was kidding or not.

That evening Natasha, Steve, and Bruce sat alone in the main room.

"How long do we have to deal with this?" Natasha grumbled darkly. She'd been particularly on edge, always keeping a gun in plain sight on her hip and probably a dozen other weapons tucked out of view.

Bruce sighed. "I have-"

 _"A-hem_." The three of them looked up quickly, hearts racing. Loki was leaning against the doorway, ever so casual. He strode over to the fridge, opening it and looking inside with a critical eye. " _This_ has a name you know, and it is not nice to talk behind people's backs. Anthony told me that. As if I didn't know." Loki stood up, holding a can of soda. "He's told me about soda, I am shall try it." They stared at him as he popped open the can and took a tentative sip. Steve tried to remember him holding a scepter to his head, demanding fealty. The image didn't quite fit.

"Bah! It fizzes on the tongue! Fascinating." Loki flashed them a grin and winked. It left them more confused than anything. Steve had no idea what a wink from his was supposed to mean. What did anything mean from Loki? 

Natasha turned back to Steve. "If I have to deal with him being annoying _and_ have to wait for him to inevitably betray us I'm going to punch somebody, preferably him." She shook her head, hand tracing what was likely a knife in her jacket.

 

Loki stood just outside of sight, listening to their conversation and sipping his drink. What a novelty this all was. He lived and slept among those who hated him most. Had this been the first time for such a thing, it may have disconcerted him. But it certainly wasn't. Then he walked back to his sparsely furnished temporary room. He looked out over the city which glittered beneath him, this really was a good view, Stark hadn't skimped on his tower. A far better view than his apartment. "Perhaps I shall stick around, for a time. I could entertain myself with them…” That's all it was, entertainment. _Nothing more_. At least, it's what he told himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reduxed and done! Eventually I'll get around to redoing the other ones. Some will need a lot more work than others but it's a fun project. I hope you enjoyed it.


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